Converted from halfback to two-way center in 1936, 190-pound Muskegon High alum Tom McShannock was a fearsome sight for players across the line of scrimmage from Michigan State Collegeâs three-year letterwinner and Orange Bowl standout.MLive.com file photo

With his collegiate career nearing its end, Muskegon’s Tom McShannock still had a full future in athletics ahead of him.

There was one more collegiate football thrill ahead for Spartan stalwart Tom McShannock after his surprise visit to local station WKBZ during the 1937 Michigan-Ohio State game (a 21-0 Wolverine loss to the No. 13 Buckeyes in Ann Arbor).

After beating San Francisco University 14-0 on Nov. 27, then independent Michigan State College made its first-ever bowl appearance, losing the fourth annual Orange Bowl 6-0 to Auburn on Jan. 1, 1938.

McShannock’s first quarter interception and 29-yard return was one of the few Spartan highlights on a day Michigan State’s offense managed just 67 yards and two first downs.

MSU was 28-6-2 during McShannock's four years at the school -- three of which netted him a varsity letter -- and never lost to Michigan.

The Orange Bowl was not the end of McShannock’s career in athletics. He was the Spartans’ line coach in 1939, then served stateside with the U.S. Army Air Corps for 4 ½ years.

As Muskegon's director of lifeguards for 17 years, Tom McShannock, shown here in 1957, had an impressive safety record.MLive.com file photo

McShannock was teaching in Owosso when legendary Big Red football coach Harry E. Potter called him home in 1947 to coach Muskegon’s line and take over as head basketball coach.

McShannock spent the rest of his career, 32 years, on Muskegon High’s Central Campus coaching basketball, track, cross country and swimming before taking over as the school’s third athletic director in 1966.

Until his retirement in 1980, McShannock was a living link to the school’s storied “old guard”: Leo “Tiny” Redmond and Potter.

McShannock’s legacy lives on in the multimillion-dollar Redmond-Potter Fieldhouse he helped build and the annual city track meet he helped start in 1955.

McShannock was president of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administration in 1972 and was named Michigan’s Athletic Director of the Year in 1979. McShannock is in both the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame and in the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Only once during his 17 years as the city’s director of lifeguards was there a fatality at Muskegon’s guarded beaches, possibly due to a pre-existing medical condition.

Even as his 32-year career at Muskegon drew to a close in 1980, athletic director Tom McShannock dreamed of a rebuilt Hackley Stadium to complement the Redmond-Potter Fieldhouse he helped build.MLive.com file photo

In 1992, just over a year before his death on June 9, 1993, McShannock was given the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Charles E. Forsythe Award, presented annually to individuals who help promote excellence throughout the interscholastic community.

At his retirement in 1980, McShannock still dreamed of a bright future for Big Red athletics.

“I hope to live to see the day when they rebuild Hackley Field,” McShannock told Chronicle sportswriter Mart Tardani. “They should move the field west, close off Jefferson and build an eight-lane Olympic track around the football field. That would be a fine addition to the facilities we have now (1980).”

On Nov. 22, 1937, The Chronicle said,

TOM MCSHANNOCK SURPRISE GUEST FOR ‘AIR PARTY’

Nearly a decade after his retirement, Tom McShannock was still a tried and true Muskegon Big Red.MLive.com file photo

The Chronicle and Station WKBZ Saturday broadcast the play-by-play account of the University of Michigan football game with Ohio State, giving Muskegon football fans details of the game, with Hilliard Gudelsky, sports commentator of the station assisted by James F. Henderson, Chronicle sports editor.

The broadcast was in the middle of the second half when a surprise visitor appeared at the studios and radio fans here enjoyed an impromptu questioning of Tom McShannock, Michigan State College center.

Tom dropped in at the studio and questioning by Hilliard Gudelsky developed these facts:

• Tom considers his biggest thrill was when he actually started a game at center against Temple University.

• His second biggest was scoring on a blocked punt for his first touchdown in college football.

The big fellow, who formerly was a star Muskegon halfback, now weighs 190 pounds and he added to his talk by saying his biggest disappointment was the postponement of the Muskegon-Muskegon Heights game.

Tom came home for that game and now must miss it entirely.

He’ll be on the way to San Francisco, along with Bob McComb of Muskegon heights and Art Cramer of Muskegon on Thanksgiving Day. They all expect to see action against San Francisco University next Saturday. Tom praised the play of Art and Bob in recent games. Cramer broke into his first game against Carnegie Tech, at guard, and his teammate declares he played an outstanding game.